“I love winning,” he exclaims in the ear of mentor Crash Davis. “You know what I’m saying? It’s like better than losing.”

Moments later Crash begins a crash course lesson on baseball clichés, among them, “Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. And sometimes it rains.”

Not all draws are equal, evidenced by the added time comeback in Portland early in the unbeaten run. (Courtesy Sounders FC/Charis Wilson)

If ever they flip the premise to futbol (the reverse of Jimmy Fallon’s Fever Pitch), that particular cliché will require reworking. When it comes to the Simplest Game it’s a little more complicated. More like: “Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. And sometimes you draw.”

The latter fact is all too topical at the moment in Sounderland. By match day in Utah versus RSL it will have been more than a month since the Sounders lost. Or won.

Fit to be Tied

Four consecutive draws is Seattle’s most since that fit-to-be-tied May of 2009, when five straight games finished level. Back then Sigi Schmid, wearing his Crash Davis cap, would simply state the obvious: Sometimes you’re the inchworm.

From a historical perspective, no Seattle soccer side has ever gone an entire calendar season (in this case summer) without a loss. Furthermore, only one team, the 1980 NASL Sounders, has ever put together a comparable league run.

Those Sounders of Alan Hinton (and featuring a 17-year-old Brian Schmetzer) won 13 of their first 14 matches. The sole exception was a shootout “loss” after a nil-nil draw in Vancouver.

While being unbeatable for 13 league games is indeed a modern club record, lately it’s elicited more of a ‘meh’ than hearty applause from the hometown fans. That’s because seven of those results have been draws; two of them scoreless and four others ending 1-1. The only draw that truly got one’s Rave Green blood pumping was the 10-man, added time comeback in Portland.

Wins Gain Ground

When this unbeaten run began back on June 21 (with a draw, no less), the Sounders stood 8th in the West and 16th in the overall table. They were two games under .500 and thin on depth; Leerdam and V-Rod had yet to arrive.

The 1980 Sounders put together two lengthy unbeaten runs yet exited the playoffs in the second round. (Frank MacDonald Collection)

Schmetzer’s personnel options would dwindle further before the transfer window opened. After the Portland game came call-ins for the Gold Cup. Morris missed four fixtures, Dempsey and Roldan two each. Oddly enough, that coincided with the stretch in which Seattle won six of seven, vaulting from sixth to first in the division and up to fourth in the Supporters’ Shield standings.

Regardless of who’s available, it’s plain to see that when the Sounders are finishing chances they’re taking three points. When scoring two or more goals during this run they are 5-0-1.

It’s now plain to see Seattle is united. The rallies versus Portland and D.C. United have galvanized this gang; they are firmly a collective working as one. And perhaps that explains this most recent stretch of not particularly playing well yet grinding out a point at a time.

Is Less Sexy Better?

Historically here in Seattle, teams that have struggled yet resolved to keep accumulating points have fared better in the postseason cup run. That 1980 team, which also had another eight-game unbeaten run, exited in the second round of the playoffs. Schmetzer’s first season in the A-League, 2002, featured win strings of 12 and 8. But the Sounders were eliminated in the first round.

The less sexy unbeaten runs of 1995 (4-0-6) and 2005 (6-0-4) turned out to be championship years.

So, is this inchworm of 2017 indicative of better things to come? Rather than lament the lack of goals and W’s should we see draws as points snatched from defeats? Is this summer-long unbeaten run the stuff of great things to come? Does winning another MLS Cup begin with a refusal to lose?

]]>http://www.frankmacdonald.net/?feed=rss2&p=21250When Falcons Took Flighthttp://www.frankmacdonald.net/?p=2099
http://www.frankmacdonald.net/?p=2099#commentsSat, 02 Sep 2017 13:53:02 +0000http://www.frankmacdonald.net/?p=2099Continue reading When Falcons Took Flight→]]>It’s been well over 30 years yet Peter Hattrup remembers rolling into a September 1983 practice.

Hattrup was a sophomore at Seattle Pacific University, and the Falcons were in Atlanta, wrapping up another extended early-season road trip. Having come directly from the airport to Georgia State’s training field, the players and coaches emptied out of their fleet of five shiny, black Lincoln Town Cars.

Trudging off the field following their own practice session, the Georgia State players were slack-jawed, to say the least.

From 1979 to 2000, Seattle Pacific regularly crisscrossed the country in search of games to satisfy NCAA standards.

“One guy said, ‘Damn, you guys travel in style. I thought it was the mafia pulling up,’” recalls Hattrup. “He asked how long we drove; I said we flew. Then he asked where we were staying; I said Peachtree Plaza. He said, ‘S***. You guys fly here and stay at the Plaza!?”

Indeed, for more than two decades SPU was easily the most traveled college soccer program on the planet. In an era when even the biggest D-1 powers were largely confined to the gas tank capacity of a school-issued van, the Falcons regularly crisscrossed the continent at 30,000 feet and drove the interstates in style.

This was no anomaly, no gimmick. Upon his hiring, coach Cliff McCrath was asked to create a national-class program in an area isolated geographically from soccer bastions. Furthermore, McCrath’s program was without a true home field for the first 29 seasons. To become the best requires rigorous tests. So, Seattle Pacific hit the road.

Up, Up and Away

An early season ritual, at first the road trip consisted of a handful of West Coast games. Soon enough, the Falcons took flight and eight dates became the norm, with destinations far, far away. Although 2,700 miles away, Miami was a frequent terminus.

Lincoln’s Town Car was synonymous with Seattle Pacific’s life on the road.

Even in this contemporary age where air travel has become an afterthought, only two in-state programs are slated to step foot inside the Eastern time zone this autumn. Combined, the Washington and Eastern Washington women will play four times. By comparison, during between 1981-94, five times SPU played four or more ET games on a single trip, not to mention other locales.

On that particular ’83 road trip, Hattrup and SPU had begun a two-week stretch in New Orleans. Then it was onto Miami, Jacksonville and Atlanta. In October, they would return to the friendly skies for a weekend tournament outside Chicago. That’s six games played at least two time zones away from Seattle. They would win all five, convincingly.

Later in December, the Falcons made it six wins in seven, returning to Florida to claim their second NCAA Division II championship, at Tampa.

Go Forth and Prosper

Those were extremely prosperous times for Seattle Pacific. During McCrath’s 38-year run on Queen Anne, he took his teams to 23 states and five national titles (runners-up in five more). That’s more trophies and travel than the West Coast’s presumed D1 giant, UCLA.

Nowadays, it may surprise some that Seattle Pacific was the top program of any size in the Northwest, and that it helped launch the careers of Hattrup, Marcus Hahnemann, Jason Dunn and several other notable USL Sounders. Yet the allure of playing for the charismatic McCrath, traveling America and playing for championships proved irresistible to most.

More than a coach, McCrath was masterful in building schedules and finding the funding to pay for it all. A kid at heart, he was a bit of a pied piper, leading his legion to walk The Mall in Washington, ascend the World Trade Center, squint in the brilliance of the Las Vegas Strip, ride Disneyland’s Matterhorn and bodysurf the white sand beaches of Miami.

Hattrup admits the lure of adventure was seductive.

An Allure Like No Other

“Those days there wasn’t a ton of scholarships, and you were promised an experience you wouldn’t get at any other college,” notes Hattrup, who had only flown once prior to pulling on an SPU shirt.

Whereas a handful of players might benefit from a full-ride, practically everyone reaped the reward of the travel experience. Families also followed along, opting to coordinate their vacations with wherever SPU was headed next.

“I think every kid should have exposure to his country, so we try to stop in as many points across the nation as possible in a four-year period. It’s a chance to see different cultures and meet different people,” McCrath said at the time. “Some of these kids might not otherwise travel beyond a neighboring state…I try hard to get the best possible deals on transportation and lodging, but I also feel the need to give our players a taste of class.”

Diagram depicts the 1989 road trip, which lasted four weeks.

Of course, the SPU athletic coffers could not provide resources sufficient for such extensive travel. Rather it was McCrath who would successfully raise funds. Later he was instrumental in the pitch for private funding for constructing Interbay Stadium.

At home, playing for SPU was often a nomadic existence. Training was at night, often 20 miles from campus. In the final season prior to Interbay opening, the Falcons hosted games at four different fields in Seattle and on the Eastside.

Until the late Nineties, when NCAA selection criteria shifted, the difference then between SPU and prominent Division I programs was minimal. In fact, the Falcons generally played 7-10 games versus D1s: Harvard and Yale, Santa Clara and St. Mary’s, SMU and UNLV, Air Force and New Mexico, San Diego and San Diego State. Then, of course, were expeditions to face D2 powers such as Southern Connecticut, Florida International and Tampa. Although playing the vast majority of those matches on the road, Seattle Pacific’s record versus D1s was 79-74-36.

Scott Cairns had never flown before his freshman season. He would start four consecutive NCAA championship games.

In 1989, when the opening road trip was nearly four weeks, McCrath scheduled eight D1s and just four D2s. At the time, SPU was the only one Div. II men’s soccer program in the Northwest. “I’m sure people think we’re nuts to travel so far and so long, but there aren’t enough (NCAA) teams in our area,” McCrath declared at the time. “We needed to travel. The end result is that we take on all comers.”

Overwhelming at First

Scott Cairns enrolled in 1983 after establishing himself as one of the state’s top playmaking midfielders at Redmond. He was admittedly overwhelmed at first by the travel.

“It was the first time I’d been away. I was probably naïve, not entirely knowing what I was getting into,” recalls Cairns. “I always remember coming back from that trip to play Seattle U, thrashing them (5-0) in the afternoon, and then just going to bed. Mentally, I was just wiped. But getting used to that travel helped me later.”

By the time SPU brought home the championship trophy that December, Cairns had logged some 14,000 air miles. His career total would climb to 46,000 with stops in 13 states. Cairns holds the distinction of starting four NCAA championship games during his career and winning three. Two of those triumphs came in Florida.

Ah, the Accoutrements

The Falcons’ frequent flying rarely interfered with class time. They always returned by the third week of September, before fall quarter commenced.

Coaches at all levels attest to the fact that traveling can pull a team closer together. Sigi Schmid, who often requested travel tips from McCrath while at UCLA, forged a family atmosphere for Sounders FC early on. Seattle toured Argentina and Spain in its first two preseasons.

“It’s totally team bonding, going away” explains Cairns. “You find out who you can count on. We had a core group of guys who were grinders, fighters who didn’t like to lose. When it comes down to it, the difference can be who will battle, and we had that difference.”

In some ways, McCrath would carefully craft the itinerary, in terms of training fields and team meals. However, there was plenty of free time to explore, and at least a couple players had keys to a Town Car, which was as synonymous to SPU soccer as the Batmobile is to Batman.

Fort Lauderdale’s Bahia Mar was often a home-away-from-home for the Falcons in south Florida.

While other teams were carried in generic, 16-passenger vans, McCrath worked a deal with Budget for the Lincolns, which, for a comparable price, provided added comfort, excellent sound systems (a must for college-aged guys) and ample trunk space for the gear. The Town Cars always made a distinct impression, as evidenced in Atlanta.

The cylindrical, 73-story Peachtree Plaza was not a one-off; Seattle Pacific rarely skimped on lodging with McCrath negotiating deals. One regular retreat was Fort Lauderdale’s Bahia Mar. Two championships were won and celebrated there.

The Golden Rules

Yes, there will be waiting. Jonathan Swanson and trainer Bob Grams at Miami’s airport following the 1993 championship triumph. (Courtesy Jonathan Swanson)

While there’s an infamous tale of a mattress being launched from one of the Bahia Mar’s upper floors, and occasionally a freshman might find himself playfully stuffed in a trunk, for the most part SPU players strayed from trouble. There were only a few rules, and McCrath expected his players to abide.

Be respectful and courteous to hotel, restaurant and airline staff;

Keep noise levels down after 10 p.m.

At checkout, pile soiled towels in tubs, and

“Leave each place better than you found it.” That included collecting cups, orange peels and athletic tape from each practice field and bench area.

“Cliff wanted to instill values,” says Bob Grams, the Falcons’ athletic trainer for over 30 seasons. Travel is often fraught with issues: cancelled flights, rental cars or rooms unavailable. “One of his qualities was to, rather than get angry with the front desk person, he would manage to get that person on his side. You get a lot further doing it that way.”

Unrivaled

Ultimately, the trips only enhanced the experience of playing for Seattle Pacific. Travel expanded everyone’s horizon and knowledge of the nation in general. In the pre-regionalization days, few could rival Seattle Pacific’s strength of schedule.

Peter Hattrup, who would go on to earn A-League MVP honors while with the Sounders, starred in the 1985 final at FIU, scoring twice.

The first four title teams lost an average of four regular season games. But when the playoffs arrived–the Falcons qualified in 25 of 27 seasons during their peak travel era–the travel and challenge of facing strong sides was nothing new.

When Hattrup, Cairns & Co. upset Tampa and Florida International on the road, no less, to claim NCAA crowns on Florida’s Bermuda grass, they were just going about their business.

“Travel for us was normal. It was fun,” says Hattrup of the days before TSA checks and crammed cabins. “We traveled in a fashion where it wasn’t a hardship. Come the playoffs, we weren’t awed by it; it was no ordeal. We just said, ‘Let’s go.’”

]]>http://www.frankmacdonald.net/?feed=rss2&p=20991One Game’s Profound Legacyhttp://www.frankmacdonald.net/?p=2080
Mon, 28 Aug 2017 20:14:30 +0000http://www.frankmacdonald.net/?p=2080Continue reading One Game’s Profound Legacy→]]>Forty years on, it remains a remarkable match. Not only did it captivate American soccer’s growing audience of the day and provide a fairytale finish for a global legend, Soccer Bowl ’77 also cast the pathway, for better or worse, for a club and a country seeking to development a professional presence.

For those who witnessed the NASL final between the glamorous New York Cosmos and unfashionable (outside Cascadia) yet fearless Seattle Sounders, it left an indelible mark on the memory. Just a glimpse of the video or photos awakens the senses.

Among the Cosmos’ superstars, Franz Beckenbauer was the reigning Ballon d’Or winner in Soccer Bowl ’77.

Of course, there was the epic backdrop: a gray, late summer Sunday afternoon, Portland’s Civic Stadium crammed full of 35,548 spectators, some sitting cross-legged on the artificial turf, just a few feet from the field’s boundaries.

There is the ‘Oh, no!’ moment of a partially deaf Sounders keeper being fleeced of the ball for the game’s opening goal. There is the rapid reply of Seattle to equalize, the relentless pressure and the sheer openness–rarely found in a final–that leads to dozens of chances (22 shots on target, two others by Seattle off the frame itself). And there is the chaotic scene at the final whistle, the crowd streaming onto the pitch and the shirtless Pelé running and hugging his teammates.

Simply Unforgettable

Such a day is impossible to forget. August 28, 1977 is a date holding significance to sporting historians. Earlier this summer a journalist and film crew from Italy preparing projects to mark the 40th anniversary stopped in Seattle. Among those they interviewed was Jimmy McAlister, then a 20-year-old homegrown rookie and postgame recipient of Pelé’s green jersey.

For those who played in the match, particularly those who represented Seattle, they don’t require media to validate its importance. Locals like McAlister and Vancouver’s Tony Chursky were living the dream; they had grown-up never even fantasizing such a scenario. Most of the Sounders were Britons. Some had first-division pedigree, others were plucked from England’s third and fourth tiers. The captain, Adrian Webster, whose odyssey included a semipro stint in Vancouver, recently wrote a book about it.

Then there are those who watched the drama unfold. Some were lucky enough to buy one of 8,000 tickets allotted to Sounders fans the morning after ousting LA in the semifinals. At least that many worked the secondary market. All in all, at least half of the record throng was firmly behind Seattle. The rest of the 56,000 who attended that semi were glued to our TVs, watching the syndicated broadcast on Channel 7.

No Regrets

While emotionally draining, Sounders players and fans alike have long taken solace in the fact that our boys fought the good fight. They never backed down. After winning seven straight they were deserving finalists and believed the championship was within reach.

The Cosmos were arriving in Oregon having scored 19 times in five playoff games; Giorgio Chinaglia remains the most ruthless finisher ever to roam this continent. These were Galácticos decades before Real Madrid coined the phrase. Carlos Alberto was a World Cup-winning captain, Franz Beckenbauer a two-time (and reigning) Ballon d’Or winner. Although 36, Pelé remained a formidable force. The majority of neutrals believed the Black Pearl was fated to go out a winner.

“It would be great for Pelé if he finished off his career with a victory,” quipped Seattle coach Jimmy Gabriel on the eve of Soccer Bowl, “but I’m afraid he’s going to be very sad.”

Jimmy McAlister, left, and David Gillett were tasked with containing Giorgio Chinaglia and the Cosmos’ potent attack.

Banking on his team’s supreme fitness and commitment to one another, Gabriel asked his players to incessantly swarm the Cosmos. “Jimmy said (the Cosmos) are better at the continental, South American-style slow build-up, but we’re not going to get into that kind of game,” says David Gillett, Sounders centerback. “We’re going to unsettle on the ball from the very beginning.”

“Paul Gardner, the TV commentator, didn’t think we could keep up that pace. (But) we were a pretty fit team,” added Gillett. “We wanted to make it a good final and leave it all on the field, and we had taken control of the game.”

Exponentially Out-Spent

Warner Communications may have spent exponentially more on creating a contender (Pelé alone made $1.4M–near 10 times the Sounders starters, combined), but Seattle countered with a collective ethos of All for One. “It was all about the camaraderie of the players,” claims Webster.

Adrian Webster, Sounders captain, was presented the Golden Scarf on Aug. 20, along with former teammate David Butler.

Many Boomer fans will confirm that today’s Sounders FC success at the gate–MLS attendance records, regularly drawing beyond 40,000–is directly tied to the community’s ties to those original Sounders, who pulled over 25,000 themselves.

Yet many a successful team has come out of Puget Sound since Soccer Bowl ’77, and most of them were also underdogs exhibiting those Gabriel tactics: high pressure, playing in sync. And they have been mostly homegrown sides, following in the footsteps of McAlister (his son Bobby starred for Seattle University 2004 NCAA Division II champions).

Living Proof

You can even trace a narrative of unfinished business in 1977 and culminating with the MLS Cup triumph in Toronto 39 years later. Both Webster and Gillett see Sounders FC coach Brian Schmetzer as a manager rooted in the tenets of Gabriel (Schmetzer’s assistant and mentor in Seattle’s A-League era).

“Brian came from that system, where it’s not about 1-2 individuals,” notes Webster. “It’s a good foundation.”

“There’s a balance there,” he adds. “Now they have the academy in place, and hopefully you get the young American players continuing to come through. The young players need to know there’s a pathway to the first team. Brian, being a local boy, will give them opportunities and push them through.”

Three years after Soccer Bowl ’77, a 20-year-old Tacoman, Mark Peterson, was not only starting, but scoring 14 goals up front. A year later, he was joined by another Tacoma product, Jeff Stock, in the XI, and Schmetzer was signed by Alan Hinton. The Sounders reserve team program, the first of its kind, initiated by John Best, was regularly bearing fruit.

Players such as McAlister, Stock, Peterson, Schmetzer and Chance Fry mentored the next class and coached successive waves; Jordy Morris spent his early days playing in Fry’s Eastside FC.

A Sustainable, Steadfast Commitment

While Seattle was committing to a sustainable formula of developing homegrowns and supplementing with quality players committed to an earnest work ethic, most of the NASL was smitten with the Cosmos way. Owners saw huge crowds at Giants Stadium and the first of multiple championships as a sign that clubs could buy championships.

Very little separated players such as David Gillett, right, and the capacity crowd at Civic Stadium.

Gillett was fearful a Cosmos victory would result in such a misguided approach to growing the game. Six expansion teams flooded the NASL the following year, and many teams sought to recruit high-priced (and mostly overaged) players to compete with the Cosmos.

“I was really disappointed when we got beat, because when you see what happened later, all the teams emulated the winning team; they all tried buying a team and spent too much on players,” said Gillett.

The Road to Ruin

In 1982, New York won a fourth championship in six years (again defeating Seattle). However, the onetime 24-team NASL was hemorrhaging money; by 1983 only 12 franchises remained, and a year later the whole league was kaput.

Today’s single-entity structure in MLS is a living reminder that the Cosmos way, while glamorous and seductive, is also the road to ruin in a sport struggling to gain a foothold.

“If we had won, that would’ve sent the message that you don’t have to spend all kinds of money, if you have a team that plays well together and likes each other, if you do all the right things–you can be successful without going bust,” laments Gillett.

“That’s what came out of the Cosmos winning and that was why I was more disappointed,” he says. “More people picked up on the fact that you can buy a winning team. That turned out to be a disaster. Had we won with a workmanlike team that had some talent, it would’ve sent a whole different message.”

A century ago, Robert Frost wrote of The Road Not Taken. Seattle diverged from the pack and, as Frost contended, “that has made all the difference.”

Two Sounders stalwarts–Fredy Montero and Mauro Rosales, onetime captain–have made their way north. Vancouver’s Jordan Harvey played shortly for the USL Sounders…Seattle clinched passage to the CCL knockout phase with a 3-0 home win in 2015. That came just four days after winning a league game 3-0 away.

From 2004-06 there were five consecutive draws, three of them scoreless…Two of the 86ers/Whitecaps coaches (Carl Valentine and Dale Mitchell) and three of the Sounders coaches (Neil Megson, Bernie James and Brian Schmetzer) were past members of the Tacoma Stars and NASL Whitecaps. Alan Hinton played for the Whitecaps and coached the Stars…Except for one BC Place fixture, the games played at Burnaby’s Swangard Stadium were the only Cascadia matches played on natural grass

Alan Hinton’s Whitecaps served as opponent for the inaugural FC Seattle match, a 2-2 draw opening on a Bruce Raney goal for Seattle after 45 seconds. That game featured three former NASL Sounders (Ian Bridge, Jeff Stock, Peter Ward) starting for Vancouver. Stock, Ward and Vancouver’s Fran O’Brien would later play for FC Seattle…FC Seattle’s first road match was a 2-1 win at BC Place during the 1984 NASL Olympic break…Seattle native and onetime Sounder Eddie Krueger’s play in those two matches earned him a late-season signing with Vancovuer…Bill Barry, founding GM of FC Seattle, would become Whitecaps GM in 1985…There was a two-year hiatus for the rivalry from 1985-86, after the Whitecaps folded and the 86ers formed for the new Canadian Soccer League.

Cascadia derby history began June 9, 1974 with Seattle winning 2-0 away…When the Sounders traveled to BC on April 26, 1975, an estimated 1,500 Seattle fans were among the 7,700 total attendance…Despite nearly two-thirds of their league encounters with Vancouver, the Sounders were unbeaten in playoffs and cup competitions. Seattle eliminated the Whitecaps from the playoffs in 1976, 1977 and 1980…Seattle’s Mark Peterson scored the first goal in BC Place before a record Canadian soccer crowd of 60,342…John Best’s final NASL victory came in the 1976 playoffs vs. the Whitecaps. Best’s next move was to become Vancouver general manager in 1977…Alan Hinton scored his final NASL goal against the Sounders in 1978, then became Seattle coach two years later. Hinton became Vancouver coach in 1984.

]]>Becoming A Sounder for Lifehttp://www.frankmacdonald.net/?p=2027
http://www.frankmacdonald.net/?p=2027#commentsFri, 18 Aug 2017 22:16:38 +0000http://www.frankmacdonald.net/?p=2027Continue reading Becoming A Sounder for Life→]]>To understand one fan’s fixation on the 1977 Sounders, chat-up a Mariners diehard born in the playoff drive of ’95. Or the Sonics reversal of ’78 or Seahawks’ ascension of ’83.

There have always been fans, vociferous fans, surrounding the Sound. Especially early on, they became enamored with any team courageous enough to stitch ‘Seattle’ on their chest. They go to games, they make a lot of noise and develop their favorite performers.

I was there, somewhere in that mass of humanity, at the Kingdome on Aug. 25, 1977 (Frank MacDonald Collection)

Yet when the stakes are raised and a potential title comes into sight, suddenly the relationship elevates to an emotional level bordering on kinship. Fervor takes hold. And at that point, it’s no longer casual; it’s a lifetime commitment. And so it was in the summer of ’77, for me and the Sounders.

Forty Years in the Making

This coming Sunday evening, some fellow Boomers will wax nostalgic as a few choice idols from our youth stride between the lines once more on Occidental. Ten in all, among them Davey Butler, Dave Gillett, Adrian Webster and their coaches, Jimmy Gabriel and Bobby Howe. It’s now been 40 years to the month since they took the city by storm.

Much like the ’95 midseason M’s, by June of 1977 Gabriel’s lads looked mediocre. A 3-nil defeat at Portland sank them to 4-7.

At just about the time everyone was writing off that team’s postseason prospects, Gabriel pulled the trigger on a deadline trade, acquiring a nondescript journeyman while effectively sending a longtime fan favorite (Butler) to the bench. Often times, however, it’s the subtleties that can produce pure magic.

No Ord-inary Tommy

Soon enough, their new everyman striker, Tommy Ord, became a local lord, sensationally achieving the club’s first hat trick to open his account. And Butler, who’d been mired in a two-month scoring drought, would spring to life as a supersub, scoring four times.

Contemporary Sounders fans recognize the formula. Remember late in 2016, the signing of Nico Lodeiro, the reemergence of Nelson Valdez and going from doormat to destroyer? Well, kids, that was the ’77 Sounders.

In winning seven straight to open August, the Sounders were transformed from unwatchable to irresistible, from also-ran to giant killer. In running the table over three weeks, Seattle first rose above .500, then clinched a playoff berth before proceeding to knock-out three higher seeds, all due to improbable road victories.

Breaking Camp

I listened to the radio call of the last of those away wins, 3-1 over Georgie Best and LA, while winding my way up the 101 to Port Townsend and a soccer camp run by ex-Sounder Roy Sinclair and Geoff Wall. Three days later, stricken by Sounders fever, I did something very un-Frank-like.

Along with three friends (and a willing ballerina from the dance camp next door) I went AWOL from camp. The reason: Seattle was hosting the Aztecs for a place in the NASL final that evening, and I felt compelled to be there. Heck, we all did. Even the ballerina.

It was worth it. We each converged on the Kingdome box office to buy singles for that night’s semifinal. Already 56,000 seats had been sold. Fortunately, I found space in the north end, where Jocky Scott headed home the only goal.

Webster and the Sounders would battle Pele’s Cosmos on even terms in Portland, in Soccer Bowl ’77. (Courtesy Adrian Webster)

When Jocky scored, when that primal roar of the crowd was trapped within a concrete tomb, it was literally deafening, at least for the moment.

This Sunday, I’m that 17-year-old all-in fan all over again. Although I’m now on a first-name basis with those protagonists of my teens, my admiration has only grown. I get to shadow them as they make the rounds from Fuel to the NINETY to the Golden Scarf ceremony, all the while renewing acquaintances with other fans of a certain age.

Webster’s recently published book, entitled Soccer Bowl ’77.

It wasn’t just a seminal summer for me, but for them as well. In the wake of that season, Doug Thiel published the first Sounders book, All the Best. Webster’s now written a book about that side. He and Butler have returned to the city after decades away to see firsthand what they hath wrought, those many years ago, a soccer community like none other in North America.

August of ’77 was a time to behold, no matter what the eventual outcome against the Cosmos. It was a tale of unfinished business, a task finally completed by the Rave 39 years later.

Times such as the ’77 Soccer Bowl run should be preserved, shared and, yes, celebrated with coming generations. Nine, 19 and 29 years from now, let’s make a pact to meet here again, to share a story or two from one special late summer and fall of 2016, stories of resilience and reawakening, to once again applaud the likes of Schmetz and Frei, Nico and Nelson, and to celebrate when you truly became a Sounder for life.

I became a Sounder ’til I die in August of ’77. How about you?

NOTE: 1977 Sounders will make a series of pregame appearances August 20. It begins at 3pm at Fuel Sports. From 5-5:40pm you can catch them at The NINETY and from 6-6:30pm at Soccer Celebration in the Northwest Marshaling Area of CenturyLink Field. Finally, they will participate in the Golden Scarf ceremony at approximately 6:50pm.

]]>The Next Voice You Hear: Arlo Whitehttp://www.frankmacdonald.net/?p=1992
Fri, 11 Aug 2017 12:47:08 +0000http://www.frankmacdonald.net/?p=1992Continue reading The Next Voice You Hear: Arlo White→]]>Play is about to begin in the English Premier League, and that means summer is over for Arlo White. The former Sounders FC broadcaster begins his fifth season as EPL play-by-play voice for the NBC Sports Group with a whirlwind of assignments. All this comes after the Whites vacationed at some iconic American destinations.
(Courtesy NBC Sports)

Arlo White may have returned to his native England, but he always holds America close to his heart, not to mention some clubs that, like his beloved Leicester City, enjoyed profound success in the past year.

Your summer is a short one and the English season is about to begin. Are you able to get breaks for off-field fun during the EPL season?

During the season–and it’s a long season, some nine and half months–every time there’s a FIFA break or an FA Cup weekend and the Premier League teams are idle, my daughters are in school. And every time their school is on vacation, I’m working on Premier League games. It’s very, very difficult to spend any quality time together. As soon as the season ends in May, we head off to some place nice, like the beach, just to decompress a little bit at the end of the season.

People following on Twitter saw you share postcards from some great destinations these past few years. How long were these trips in the works?

During winter months, we are busy planning our next American adventure. In 2015, we went to Florida to do Disney and did a bit of a road trip down to Naples, and it gave us a taste for something a little bit more expansive. Last summer we landed in San Francisco. We drove to Yosemite, we drove back to Los Angeles and did the great Pacific Coast Highway and it was fantastic. This year we differed slightly, and planned it meticulously. We landed in Las Vegas, drove to the Grand Canyon, then Palm Springs, Santa Monica, down to San Diego and then flew to Chicago where I spent four nights with my family which I really enjoyed. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to Seattle. Hopefully that will be part of a future trip. We love our U.S. vacations and road trips. We’ve developed a little bit of a soft spot for California as well.

Clearly, you still have interest in America, it’s culture and attractions. What determines your itinerary?

I didn’t expect Lizi and the girls to go for the road trip aspect. But now that the girls (twins) are 10 years old they are more amenable to doing things like adults, such as seeing scenery, and they know that the payoff will be doing fun stuff as well. We try to combine all of our interests during our trips, so you’ll notice that there’s a baseball game, such as this year with my beloved Cubs (last year it was the Giants); we do the national parks, this year the Grand Canyon and, last year, the unbelievable Yosemite. There also theme parks like Six Flags Great America, Disneyland and Universal Studios, but also plenty of beaches and time in the swimming pool as well.

Is this affinity for America rubbing off on your family?

It is, strangely. The girls vaguely remember our time in Seattle; they were very young. They do remember our time in Connecticut a bit better, having gone to kindergarten there, and they just love everything about America. I’ve indoctrinated them successfully. And Lizi feels that way as well. I don’t think Lizi had a love for the United States until we started visiting and living there. Now she absolutely adores the place. I don’t have to twist any arms for these long trips.

How does the decompression go after a long season?

Arlo White and Graeme Le Saux at Stamford Bridge.

Last May was a particular challenge because Lizi had emergency surgery in April. At that point, I stepped away for 2-3 weeks. NBC were fantastic and very understanding. But I was keen to get back and make sure everything was taken care of at home and that Lizi was cared for. When it came time to step back into it for the championship run-in, it was an intensive period, something like 12 games in 20-24 days. That was quite intense. Perhaps when I put the microphone down after the final game of the season at Arsenal, only then did I realize how stressful the last 2-3 months had been in our personal life. It did take a little while to come back from that.

Over the summer, did you unplug some, mostly, or completely?

Spending time with the family always helps, but now I’m fully recharged. I like to make the most of the summers. I don’t watch massive amounts of live soccer or preseason games, but a lot of friendlies were stored on my DVR, so I’ve watched a lot in preparation, and I kept up on the news. I watch a few MLS games, but I don’t need to feed my soccer fix every day. I find that as much as I adore the game, it’s good to cultivate other interests as well, like traveling and reading. I was lucky enough to go with some old college buddies and visit Somme, France, scene of the famous World War I battle, and also the Normandy beaches, such as Omaha Beach, site of the D-Day landings. I have a love of history, of combat history, and I’m able to indulge in those things. Then I find that when I step back in, here in August, and look at that long nine and a half-month season, I am absolutely and fully recharged, with a clear mind and ready to go again.

What things have caught your eye with respect to American soccer of late?

The Gold Cup was interesting. It’s not a tournament that necessarily demands attention or inspires it because it’s so regular, being played every two years in the United States. It’s a bit formulaic, and we didn’t get the big US-Mexico showdown, which is always the highlight of that particular tournament. But we did see certain players doing well: Clint (Dempsey) and, in the final, Jordan Morris. That caught my attention.

You broadcast Sounders games for two seasons, followed by nearly two years of MLS on NBC. What are your thoughts on the club and the league in general?

Arlo White on his 2010 introduction as new voice of Sounders FC. (Courtesy Sounders FC)

The ongoing success of the Sounders is always a joy to me. I follow it as much as I can. I left too soon to get a ring unfortunately [laughs]. It seems to be going very well, on and off the field. Elsewhere, Atlanta United have hit the ground running, and David Beckham seems to be making some progress in Miami.

How much has MLS changed in your estimation?

I left the Sounders at the end of the 2011 season and I left MLS midway through the 2013 season, and it feels to me that the league has gone on to a higher plane. Big franchises, big franchise fees, brilliantly organized clubs coming into the league electrifying fans and selling lots of tickets. It’s changed the atmosphere and it feels like a completely different league than the one I left. The revolution began in the Pacific Northwest, with Seattle, Portland and Vancouver, and it’s been strengthened further. It appears to be in a very healthy state.

You must admit 2016 was a very good year for three of your most loved clubs.

On the eve of the 2010 MLS season, White studies the Sounders in La Manga, Spain.

The fact that they all happened within, what 6-7 months, was just incredible. My association with the Sounders was only 2-3 years, but my affinity will last way beyond that. I was absolutely delighted for everybody. The playing staff has turned over a lot since I was there, but I know a lot of people with the club and, like you, who are no longer with the club. We share that common history; great friends who shared an incredible experiences and one that changed my life. I am a genuine fan of the club and always will be. To watch that and see it unfold under Brian (Schmetzer) during the second half of the season, culminating in that penalty shoot-out in Toronto, it was just incredible.

My sports fandom has peaked, all in a 7-month period. It’s never going to be that great again. I mean Leicester City, we never thought it was going to happen in the first place. For lightening to strike twice, if Leicester City win the Premier League again I will be very, very surprised. To experience that once was just amazing. I’ve got pictures of the team lifting the trophy and (Jamie) Vardy celebrating goals and all sorts of pictures around my office and the house, as many as I can get away with. I still can barely believe what happened. Then that was followed up by the Chicago Cubs. They’ve been my baseball team since I first saw them in ’86. All three things happening in that short period. I had almost celebration fatigue at one point. It’s been a fantastic ride.

What are some storylines you see developing for the coming EPL season?

Arlo White, Lee Dixon and Graeme Le Saux (Courtesy NBC Sports)

MLS have really taken the bull by the horns regarding VAR. It’s going to be fascinating to see how that goes, and the Premier League is seriously looking at implementing that next season. As far this season goes, the initiative from the referees and the Premier League is to try stamping out simulation. This new system whereby if a referee judges simulation happens during a game and a yellow card is issued, that’s the end of the matter. However, if in a big decision like a red card or a penalty kick the referees are deemed to have missed a simulation, it will now be re-refereed. Now a panel will be seated on Monday morning and if that panel–a former player, a former manager and a former referee–finds a player guilty of simulation, the player will receive a 2-game ban. That’s a big punishment and it’s going to make a lot of players think twice about diving. So maybe we are a step closer to eliminating what is a scourge of the game.

How’s the race for the top shaping up?

I think Manchester City are the favorites. Pep Guardiola had a difficult time in his first season, not winning a trophy, and he’s spent a king’s ransom on fullbacks and strengthening various areas of the team, and I think they’re going to have too much for everybody else. Jose Mourinho has to get Manchester United in the top four. Since NBC took over (televising EPL), we’ve only seen Man United kind of struggle. We missed the Fergie years. From our perspective, it would be interesting to see Manchester United back up there because they have such a huge fan base in the United States. Chelsea appear to me to be on a slight downer, which to a degree is self-inflicted. Conte’s treatment of Diego Costa and the fact that they sold more players than they bought; we’ll have to see how their defense goes. Liverpool has to resolve Coutinho. Will Arsenal regain their top-four spot? Will Spurs fare well at Wembley? I might have chosen them as title favorites if they were playing at White Hart Lane. And then we’ll have to see how the new boys get on. Huddersfield Town is a club with terrific history and then of course Newcastle has been a regular member of the Premier League. So, many storylines, as usual.

Is there an innovation or staple of American sports that you think would merit consideration in the EPL?

In terms of the games themselves, I don’t think so. Football is a very, very simple game. I guess the temptation is to complicate it. When (officials’) decisions are mistaken and cost club points, there’s a bottom line to that. So, yes, there’s a need to get decisions right. Off the field, there are very few fans of football in England who could care less about American sports. But I’m growing little weary of wild west style approach to the transfer window. I’m growing weary of players signing lucrative 5-year contracts and demanding transfers and refusing to play a year or maybe 18 months into that contract. I know salary caps won’t work, and single entity won’t work because we’re in a global market. They do it in America, but it won’t work anywhere else in the world. If they did it in the Premier League all the players would go to, say, Spain or Italy. But I’d like to see sanctity of the contract made more important. The transfer window doesn’t close for another three weeks, so you’ve got teams going in unsettled; Southampton with Virgil van Dijk, Chelsea and Costa, Liverpool and Coutinho. It’s unsettling, it’s unsavory. I’d like to see the sanctity of the contract permanent, and if that means players don’t sign five-year deals, fine. But I’d like to see a system implemented whereby there is not allowance for movement in the first two years of a longtime contract. If that means shorter contracts, that’s fine. If fees come down as a result, that’s fine too because some of the figures being thrown around are absolutely ridiculous. Some sort of regulation of the transfer system would be most welcome.

The whole New York-based NBC EPL crew is coming your way this week. What a way to start the season.

The entire EPL team for NBC will be in England for the 2017/18 opening weekend.

It’s not the first time we’ve done it. It’s kind of a well-trodden path now. We travel around as a team. It’s a lot of fun to do but very intensive; I have commentaries on the three matches in three days. I’ve got to host at pitch-side but then dash up to the gantry, or the booth as it’s known in America, and then dash back down to interview the protagonists pitch-side. It’s going to be hectic but everybody gets on famously. I have massive respect for all of them as people and as broadcasters. Their knowledge really is phenomenal and we really do have the best pundits in the business in terms of their ability to breakdown games and issues in the game. They are so well prepared, so erudite, and they’re so experienced. So, when we all get together, it’s great. As we get in the mini buses and travel around the country it will be fun and I’m delighted it’s the opening weekend because every team is full of hope at this point, rather than their fate already being decided. It’s a fantastic way to start the season.

Thinking back these last 10 or so years for you, personally, and your family, ever pinch yourself?

This morning I was going through all my suits, and I told Lizi I might give this particular one away because I’ve had it 10 years. She said, “No you haven’t; you wore that in Seattle, and that’s only been seven years.” It’s remarkable because when I look back at first arriving in Seattle in 2009, covering for Kevin Calabro and then coming back in 2010, it changed my life so fundamentally for the better. But it seems like such a long time ago. The journey has been phenomenal and I have to pinch myself sometimes. Yes, I’m a very, very lucky boy.